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Viatel Inc., founded in the United States in 1991, was a Nasdaq-quoted technology company which operated fiber optic networks in several countries, including in the United Kingdom during the mid-1990s. Viatel Technology Group, a Dublin-based technology company focused primarily on the Irish market, was founded from some of the elements of Viatel Inc. following acquisition by Digiweb in 2013.

History

Early years

Viatel was founded in 1991, in Colorado, by Martin Varsavsky. In 1994, it went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Four years later, Varsavsky sold his stake in the company for US$200 million and left the company. In 1999, Viatel's market capitalization reached US$1.2 billion. At that time, Viatel's second-largest outside shareholder was George Soros, while the largest outside stake was held by the global telecommunications company COMSAT.

On 2 May 2001 Viatel Inc. and its all of its U.S. subsidies filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the state of Delaware. In 2013 it was reported, in Süddeutsche Zeitung, that documents provided by Edward Snowden revealed that several telecom operators, including Viatel, had played a role in helping the British intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to tap onto worldwide fiber-optic communications.

Sale to Digiweb and divestment of Viatel Technology Group

The European arm of Viatel was purchased, in May 2013, by the Irish telecoms operator Digiweb, with at least some Viatel investors retaining interests in the new setup. In November 2015, it was announced that Zayo was in the process of buying Viatel's UK and mainland Europe network, leaving the Irish network to continue under the name of Viatel; This €98.8m transaction was completed on 31 December 2015.

The remaining elements of Viatel, branded as the 'Viatel Technology Group', focused on the Irish and European markets, primarily providing business telecoms, cloud and cyber security services. In 2018, Paul Rellis, formerly of Microsoft, was appointed as CEO of the Digiweb Group, with Digiweb and Viatel as the main operating branches.

In 2020, Viatel Technology Group acquired Ripplecom and Irish Telecom Service. During 2021, the company acquired Skytel Networks and Nova Telecom. This was followed, in 2022, by the acquisition of ActionPoint, Wifibre, and supportIT. Sungard AS Ireland was acquired in May 2023. By 2023, Viatel Technology Group had over 310 employees with offices in Dublin, Dundalk and Limerick.

Viatel Technology Group was included, by Deloitte Ireland, on its 2022 list of "Ireland's Best Managed Companies". In 2023, Viatel was named "Best Place to Work" at the Tech Excellence Awards, and Managed ICT Company of the Year by the Chambers Ireland InBUSINESS Recognition Awards.

References

1. Brown, Eric. "The Connector". Forbes. Retrieved 4 August 2013. Martin Varsavsky has created three. In 1991 he launched Viatel, a pan-European telco that went public on the Nasdaq in 1994; he had put $230,000 into it, and he sold his stake later for $200 million. In 1998 he left Viatel to start Jazztel, a telecom network listed in Spain, and in the bubble his 20% stake was worth $1 billion.
2. "Undervalued Viatel?". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013. Viatel, a global provider of telecommunications services, has operations and assets in Europe much like those of KPNQwest. Yet Viatel's market cap is a mere $1.2 billion compared with KPNQwest's $19 billion
3. Teitelbaum, Richard (17 February 1997). "Viatel A Cautionary Tale Wall Street Heavy Hitters Like George Soros Are Backing This Small, Shaky Telecom Outfit--But That Doesn't Mean You Should Too". CNN (Fortune magazine). Retrieved 4 August 2013.
4. "Viatel seeks bankruptcy protection". The Guardian. 2 May 2001.
5. John Goetz and Frederik Obermaier. "Snowden enthüllt Namen der spähenden Telekomfirmen". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2013. In den internen Papieren des GCHQ aus dem Jahr 2009 stehen sie nun aufgelistet: Verizon Business, Codename: Dacron, British Telecommunications (codenamed "Remedy"), Vodafone Cable ("Gerontic"), Global Crossing ("Pinnage"), Level 3 (codenamed "Little"), Viatel ("Vitreous") und Interoute ("Streetcar").
6. "Digiweb Group acquires Viatel and VTLWaveNet". Capacity Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
7. Kennedy, John (15 May 2013). "Digiweb merger with Viatel creates pan-European fibre player". Silicon Republic (technology news). Retrieved 13 June 2023. Digiweb has merged with Viatel, a London-based telecoms operator ... will connect 34 Western European cities over an 8,500km fibre network. ... combined workforce of 200 and annual revenues of US$78m ... Investors in Viatel, including Morgan Stanley, are rolling their investment in Viatel into Digiweb Group and are investing additional equity to fund the introduction of new services. Viatel has invested US$1.5bn in constructing a low-latency 8,500km fibre network connecting 34 European cities.
8. "Zayo Closes Acquisition of Viatel in Europe | Zayo Group". Zayo Group. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
9. "Viatel acquires Sungard's Irish operations and data centres". 2 May 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
10. Kitson, Niall (27 March 2018). "Former Microsoft Ireland head Paul Rellis named Digiweb Group CEO". TechCentral.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
11. "Viatel forecasts €38m in revenues on back of Ripplecom acquisition". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
12. "Viatel makes second acquisition with deal to buy Irish Telecom". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
13. "Viatel snaps up Nova in its third acquisition in nine months". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
14. "Viatel snaps up Limerick-based ActionPoint". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
15. "Wicklow wifi company bought by Viatel". Independent.ie. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
16. Taggart, Emma (5 July 2022). "Viatel acquires Irish IT services provider SupportIT". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
17. O’Dea, Blathnaid (2 May 2023). "Viatel snaps up Sungard, continuing its major growth spree". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
18. Kennedy, John (24 May 2023). "Life isn't 'one size fits all' says Viatel | ThinkBusiness". Think Business. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
19. "2022 winners | Ireland's Best Managed Companies". Deloitte Ireland. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
20. "Winners 2023". techawards.techcentral.ie. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
21. "InBusiness Recognition Awards Winners 2023". InBUSINESS Ireland. Retrieved 27 June 2023.

External links

• Viatel Technology Group

• Telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom
• Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001